Greyhounds Set to Close out 2021 Season at No. 15 Muhlenberg on November 13

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University football squad travels to rival No. 15 Muhlenberg College on Saturday, November 13 for a Centennial Conference contest to close out the 2021 regular season. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. at Frank Marino Field at Scotty Wood Stadium in Allentown.

THE COACHES: Jeff Pukszyn (Moravian '98) is entering his 11th season as Moravian's head coach after ten years as an assistant coach with the program. Pukszyn joined the Moravian staff as a part-time coach in 1997 after a three-year playing career that saw him named to the All-Middle Atlantic Conference First Team in 1994 and 1996. He was inducted into Moravian's Hall of Fame in 2019. He was also a two-time captain. Pukszyn became part of the coaching staff full-time in 1999 as defensive coordinator and added the titles of assistant head coach in 2001 and special teams coordinator in 2007. In 2015, Pukszyn led the Greyhounds to an 8-3 record and a berth in the inaugural Centennial-MAC Bowl Series while being named both the Centennial Conference and American Football Coaches Association Division III Region 2 Coach of the Year. He has been a part of 274 games for Moravian since 1994 with a 130-143-1 record.
     Muhlenberg coach Nate Milne (Hobart '03) is in his fourth year as head coach with of 32-4 mark.

THE SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 69th between the schools with the series tied at 33-33-2. Muhlenberg earned a 52-7 win in Allentown the last time the schools played in 2019 for its ninth straight win in the series, and the Mules longest winning streak between the schools. The Greyhounds' last win in the series a 14-13 triumph in 2010 in Bethlehem.

GREYHOUNDS IN THE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE: Moravian joined the Centennial Conference as an associate member in the sport of football in 2007. The Greyhounds were selected seventh in the Centennial Conference preseason coaches and athletic communicators poll. Muhlenberg was picked to finish first in the poll and received 10 of 20 first-place votes. 

BALANCED & EXPERIENCED 'HOUNDS: Of the 84 players on the Moravian roster, 21 are freshmen, 13 are sophomores and 18 are juniors. There are 31 seniors including two fifth-year players on this season's squad, and the Greyhounds return 43 letterwinners and eight starters from 2019. 

THE QUARTERBACKS: Senior Christopher Mills has completed 149-of-273 passes for 1,773 yards this season with 10 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a long of 80 yards. He has also carried the ball 39 times with one touchdown, and he has been sacked 24 times. Junior Brad Bryan saw his first career action against Susquehanna University and has a total of five pass attempts and three rushing attempts for eight yards while freshman Carter Hallgren saw his first career action versus Franklin & Marshall College, and he has completed 2-of-3 passes for 15 yards with one interception. 

IN THE BACKFIELD: Sophomore Nate Boyle leads the Moravian rushing attack with 592 yards and three touchdowns on 121 carries including a 52-yard run at King's College while senior Carrington Smith has added 209 yards on 61 attempts. Junior Angelo Macera has contributed 43 yards on 16 carries while sophomore Isaac Cherry has 32 yards on 10 carries.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Moravian has one returner on the offensive line in senior Frank Sallusti at right guard. The Greyhounds will add four other seniors to the starting offensive line with Jaequan Swint at left tackle, Jack Fineanganofo at left guard, Ryan Kennedy at center and Craig Krug at right tackle. The Greyhounds' front five has an average size of 6-1, 275. Sallusti has one tackle this season, and junior Nate Bendekovits saw playing time at right tackle against Johns Hopkins University and started versus Dickinson College, Ursinus College and McDaniel College. Sophomore Javal Reyes saw playing time at left tackle against Ursinus as well.

THE WIDE RECEIVERS: The Greyhounds have had 13 different players catch a pass this season led by senior Nick Petros, who has 53 receptions for 634 yards and three touchdowns including a 59-yard score against Dickinson College. Senior Trevor Cunningham has 34 catches for 600 yards and five touchdowns including one score of 74 yards at King's College and another for 78 yards at Juniata College while sophomore wide receiver Tim Garlick has added 14 receptions for 213 yards. Freshman wide receiver Jordan Lewis has 13 catches for 104 yards while sophomore running back Nate Boyle has caught 10 passes for 56 yards. Senior wide receiver Cory Little has seven catches for 53 yards while senior running back Carrington Smith has six catches for 35 yards. Junior tight end Chris Carpini has five receptions this fall for 34 yards and a touchdown while junior tight end Ethan Deater has four catches for 23 yards. Junior running back Angelo Macera has two catches for 15 yards and a touchdown while junior wide receiver Nick Basenese has one reception for 24 yards and senior defensive back Romello Walters has one catch for four yards while playing on both sides of the ball against Susquehanna University. Senior quarterback Christopher Mills caught a deflected pass back towards him against Franklin & Marshall College.

DEFENSIVE FRONT: Junior Javi Espinal-Katz leads the Moravian defensive line with 48 tackles including nine tackles for loss, four and a half sacks, two quarterback hurries and five pass break-ups. Senior Brady Hornbaker has 26 stops with seven and a half tackles for loss, one and a half sacks, a pass break-up and two fumble recoveries while senior Brandon Nemeth has made 20 tackles with a half a tackle for loss. Senior Collin Frost has 16 stops with a half a tackle for loss while freshman Paul DeFalco has added eight tackles with one for loss and a half a sack. Junior Riley Brody has made five tackles with one for loss while sophomore Jabir Abdallah has contributed four tackles. Junior Bryan Bendig and senior Matt Eroh have each added two tackles.

THE LINEBACKER CORPS: Senior Noah Breidinger leads the linebackers with 39 tackles including three for loss, three passes defended, an interception and a forced fumble. Senior Nicholas Azpeitia has added 36 tackles with three tackles for loss, one sack, a blocked kick, and a fumble recovery while freshman Jeremiah Espinosa has made 29 tackles with a pass break-up while senior Francis Lagreca has recorded 26 tackles with two for loss and a half a sack. Junior Nick Levinski has 25 tackles with two for loss, two sacks and a quarterback hurry while junior Jack Gawlik has 13 tackles with one tackle for loss, a sack, three pass break-ups and a quarterback hurry. Sophomore Colin Conway has added 11 stops with a half a tackle for loss and half a sack while senior Matt McNally has made eight stops. Senior Brian Harris has contributed six tackles while sophomore Chris Ortalano has added three tackles.

THE DEFENSIVE BACKFIELD: Senior Jackson Buskirk leads the defensive backfield and the entire Moravian defense with 63 tackles with one and a half for loss, an interception returned 29 yards, four passes defended and a forced fumble. Freshman Chad Newhard has recorded 56 tackles, four and a half tackles for loss, two and a half sacks and an interception he returned six yards. Senior Romello Walters also has 56 tackles to go with four pass break-ups, an interception with a 15-yard return for a total of five passes defended, four forced fumbles. a fumble recovery and a half a tackle for loss, and Walters has also seen action as a linebacker. Senior Justin McRae has added 35 stops with one tackle for loss and two pass break-ups while senior Connor Lyon has contributed 33 tackles, an interception for a 22-yard return and two passes defended. Senior Jalen Richardson has 14 tackles, a half a tackle for loss and four pass break-ups while graduate student Renard Nicholson has 14 tackles and two fumble recoveries. Junior Ethen Aquino has 12 tackles while sophomore Matt Blazofsky and sophomore Ben Carlin each have made four tackles. Junior Stefan Lorick has three tackles while junior Joe Voitek has made one stop.

KICKING GAME: Junior Trevor Yacuboski is 7-for-13 on field goal attempts this season with a long of 39 yards, and he is also 13-for-13 on extra-points. Yacuboski has kicked off 27 times for an average of 47.1 yards with two touchbacks, and he has punted 32 times for an average of 34.6 yards with 15 fair caught, nine inside the 20-yard line and one blocked while recording one tackle. Senior Nick Petros has punted 13 times with an average of 35.9 yards per punt, and he has a long of 50 yards, one fair caught and three inside the 20-yard line this season. 

SPECIAL TEAMS: Senior defensive back Romello Walters has 12 kickoff returns for 256 yards while senior wide receiver Cory Little has returned 11 kickoffs for 256 yards, and he has recorded two tackles. Senior defensive back Jalen Richardson has returned nine kickoffs for 146 yards and junior defensive back Ethen Aquino has one kickoff return for 29 yards. Senior defensive back Connor Lyon has nine punt returns for 13 yards while senior linebacker Noah Breidinger has 16 yards on one rushing attempt on a fake punt versus Johns Hopkins University. Freshman wide receiver Nick Weston has made four tackles and returned one kickoff for 17 yards while senior long snapper R.J. Guffy and junior wide receiver Nick Basenese have each recorded a pair of tackles. Junior running back Angelo Macera, sophomore wide receiver Tim Garlick and senior wide receiver Joe LePoidevin each have one tackle on special teams. 

MILESTONE WATCH: The Greyhounds have four players closing in on milestones for their careers. Senior wide receiver Nick Petros is second in school history with 2,422 receiving yards, and he needs 278 yards to break the school record. Petros is the school record holder with 173 receptions and 20 career touchdown receptions. He is tied for sixth with a 35.8 career punting average on 150 punts (sixth all-time) for 5,376 yards (fifth in school history). Senior quarterback Christopher Mills became the seventh Greyhound to throw for 4,000 yards, moving past the milestone at Juniata College. Mills, who is now sixth in program history with 4,910 yards, is also fifth all-time with 397 completions, sixth with 700 pass attempts and sixth with 35 touchdown passes. Senior wide receiver Cory Little became the fifth player in school history with 1,000 kickoff return yards in a career, now with 1,064 yards, and he is sixth with 44 kickoff returns. Senior defensive back Jackson Buskirk has moved into fifth in the Moravian record books with 182 career solo tackles. Buskirk has registered 285 career stops.

THE CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds are sixth in total offense in the Centennial Conference after eight games at 290.0 yards per game. Moravian is seventh in rushing offense at 91.4 yards per contest and sixth in passing offense at 198.6 yards per outing. The Hounds are eighth in the conference in scoring at 13.8 points per game, and the squad is ranked eighth in scoring defense at 26.8 points per contest. Moravian is currently sixth in the conference in total defense, allowing just 325.6 yards per game. The Greyhounds are eighth in rushing defense at 131.8 yards per outing and fourth in passing defense at 193.8 yards per contest. Individually, freshman running back Nate Boyle is second in rushing yards per contest at 84.6 while senior wide receiver Nick Petros is tied for fifth in receptions per game at 5.9 and seventh in receiving yards per game at 70.3. Senior quarterback Christopher Mills is sixth in the conference in passing efficiency with a 113.9 rating while senior wide receiver Trevor Cunningham is fourth in receiving yards per contest at 85.7 and eighth in receptions per outing at 4.9. Senior defensive back Connor Lyon is fifth in punt returns with nine while junior kicker Trevor Yacuboski is sixth in kick scoring at 3.8 points per game. Defensively, senior defensive back Jackson Buskirk is seventh in the conference at 7.9 tackles per game while senior linebacker Noah Breidinger is 13th in the conference at 6.5 tackles per game. Freshman defensive back Chad Newhard is tied for 17th with 6.2 stops per outing while senior defensive back Romello Walters is also tied for 17th at 6.2 tackles per contest, tied for second in the conference with four forced fumbles and fourth in kickoff returns with an average of 22.6 yards per return.

THE NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS: The Greyhounds have three players ranked in the top 50 in the latest NCAA Division III statistics. Senior defensive back Romello Walters is tied for fifth in forced fumbles per game at 0.44. Senior defensive lineman Brady Hornbaker and graduate student defensive back Renard Nicholson are tied for 17th in fumble recoveries with two.

OVERTIME 'HOUNDS: Moravian has played a total of 12 overtime games since the NCAA instituted the rule for the 1996 season and is 9-3 all-time in the extra-session after defeating Gettysburg College, 16-13, on September 11, 2021, and McDaniel College, 37-31, in double overtime on October 30, 2021. Five of those 12 overtime games have been against Juniata College with the Greyhounds going 4-1 in those games. Moravian's contest in Huntingdon in 2008 marked the first time in the Greyhounds' have needed more than one overtime session in a game. The 2021 season marks the fourth year that Moravian has played at least two overtimes games in one season, the other years were 2008 when the Hounds played two overtime contests, 1999 when the Greyhounds played three overtime games and 1997 when Moravian played two overtime contests.

SCOUTING MUHLENBERG COLLEGE: The Mules enter the game at 8-1 overall and 7-1 in Centennial Conference action after a 52-27 victory over No. 25 Susquehanna University last Saturday. Muhlenberg is led on the field by senior quarterback Michael Hnatkowsky, who has completed 220-of-302 passes for 2,766 yards with 33 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and he also has 26 rushing yards and a score on 33 attempts. Hnatkowsky's top targets have been senior wide receiver Michael Feaster, who has 76 receptions for 949 yards and 10 touchdowns, senior wide receiver Mitch Daniel, who has 53 catches for 718 yards and eight touchdowns and junior wide receiver Thomas Jenkins, who has 28 receptions for 403 yards and six scores. Junior running back Ethan Brader leads the Mules' rushing attack with 313 yards and three touchdowns on 99 attempts while senior running back Rory DeLuca has added 273 yards and two scores on 100 carries. Senior defensive back John Washington has returned 12 kickoffs for an average of 36.1 yards and has one touchdown return while senior wide receiver Tim Fitzpatrick has returned 18 punts for 102 yards. Sophomore kicker Nick Stannard is 41-for-44 on extra-points and 6-for-7 on field goals with long of 35 yards while senior punter Kevin Olifiers is averaging 36.6 yards per punt on 34 kicks with a long of 56 yards and 11 inside the 20-yard line. Senior linebacker Spencer Kirin leads the Muhlenberg defense with 71 tackles including three for loss and one sack, and he also has an interception, two pass break-ups, a forced fumble, four blocked kicks and a touchdown on a blocked punt return. Senior linebacker Joshua Barnett has contributed 56 tackles with four and a half for loss, a half a sack, a pass break-up and a fumble recovery while senior linebacker Pat Palmer has 33 tackles with nine for loss, a team-high five and a half sacks and a pass break-up. Washington has made 32 tackles with two for loss, seven passes defended including three interceptions, two returned for touchdowns, and a fumble recovery while senior defensive end Quentin Ogren leads the Mules with 10 and a half tackles for loss to go with 25 total stops, four saves, a pass break-up and an interception.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET: In Allentown in 2019, Moravian dropped a 52-7 decision to host and No. 5 Muhlenberg College in Centennial Conference action at Frank Marino Field at Scotty Wood Stadium. After the game, Hounds' defensive back Jackson Buskirk was named the Moravian Most Valuable Player of the Game for a second consecutive year after he recorded a career-high 15 tackles with 14 solo stops and one tackle for loss. The Greyhounds, who finish the season at 4-6 after winning four of the final six contests of the year, had 150 yards of offense on 47 plays. Quarterback Christopher Mills completed 11-of-26 passes for 92 yards and a touchdown, and he also had one yard on three carries. Running back Roberto Diez had 36 yards on 16 attempts to finish his career with 1,549 yards, which ranks 14th in program history, on 376 carries including 840 yards on 200 attempts in 2019. Running back/quarterback Sherwin Stewart added 21 yards on two attempts. Wide receiver Alex Pierce caught five passes for 47 yards and a touchdown to finish his career with 1,091 yards, 20th all-time, on 81 receptions. Wide receiver Nick Petros caught three passes for 29 yards and will head to his senior season tied for seventh in school history with 120 receptions for 1,789 yards, fifth at Moravian. Petros also punted eight times for an average of 39.5 yards with a long of 62 yards and two inside the 20-yard line, and he ranks eighth in school history in punts with 137, eighth with 4,909 yards and tied for sixth with an average of 35.8 yards per punt. Wide receiver Andrew Lelie caught two passes for 15 yards while Diez had one reception for a year. Wide receiver Cory Little returned five kick offs for 83 yards while tight end Bryan Bendig had one kickoff return for 10 yards. Defensively, defensive back Justin McRae joined Buskirk in double digit tackles with 10 while defensive back Nate Chapman had nine stops with one tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Linebacker Tanner Barr contributed eight tackles while linebacker Wes Asche and defensive lineman Andrew Stein each had seven stops with Asche making one sack and Stein adding a tackle for loss. Wide receiver Ethen Aquino contributed five stops on special teams while defensive back Tim Valentine has four tackles and a pass break-up and defensive lineman Mike O'Hagan made two stops. Muhlenberg scored first on the second drive of the game on an 11-yard touchdown pass by Mike Hnatkowsky, who was the Mules' MVP of the game after throwing five touchdown passes, but the extra-point was missed for just a 6-0 lead. Muhlenberg scored again on another touchdown pass from Hnatkowsky to Ryan Curtiss to extend the lead to 13-0. Through the end of the first quarter and into the second, Moravian put together a 10-play, 68-yard drive that ended with Mills finding Pierce in the left front corner of the end zone with a three-yard touchdown pass, the fifth time the duo had combined on a touchdown. Trevor Yacuboski made the extra-point to cut the Mules edge to 13-7 with 11:37 left in the second quarter. Muhlenberg scored three more touchdowns on Hnatkowsky passes in the first half and also hit on a two-point conversion in the final minute of the quarter to head to the locker room with a 35-7 advantage. The Mules added a rushing touchdown by James Diggs and a 23-yard field goal Todd Spirt in the third quarter and a touchdown run by Mark Riggio in the fourth quarter to finish off the scoring for the contest.